The Keeper
by DorothyDottyLee
Summary: Commander "Trip" Tucker has more excitement than he bargained for when an away mission goes bad!
1. Default Chapter

The Keeper

By: Dorothy Lee

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Chapter One

"Owww! Damnit!" Charles Tucker swore under his breath, shaking his burnt hand. He was sprawled out up under the transporter control console, a variety of tools lying spread out beside him. Smoke was curling up from the circuit relay that had just shorted out, showering him with white-hot sparks and blistering the inside of his right hand.

For the past four hours he'd been trying to get the transporter back on line, after a plasma storm knocked out the main power grid. They were scheduled to come into orbit around a Minshara Class planet in less than twelve hours and Captain Archer had told him to make, getting the transporter working, his first priority. The rest of his engineering crew was scattered throughout the ship fixing all the other systems that had been affected by the storm. He'd decided to take on the task of fixing the transporters himself.

The comm on the wall beeped suddenly, causing him to hit his head on an overhead panel as he scrambled to his feet. Rubbing his sore head, Tucker moved over to the comm, slapping it with his good hand. "Yeah! What is it?!" He answered; irritation mixed with anger in his voice. It was obvious that he was in a very cranky mood.

On the bridge, Captain Jonathon Archer sensed his chief engineer's exasperation as well. He saw Ensign Hoshi out of the corner of his eye looking up from her communications console, painfully aware that she, as well as the rest of the bridge personnel, had heard the Commanders unorthodox reply. Even though the crew enjoyed a more relaxed discipline under his command, he still tried to stress to his senior officers the importance of maintaining a certain code of conduct; if only for the purpose of keeping respect among the men and women under their authority. Knowing his chief engineer better than anyone on this ship, Archer couldn't help worrying that maybe he'd been pushing Trip a little too hard. The entire crew had stayed on duty during the plasma storm, which they had been stuck in after the warp drive went offline, for eighteen hours. Since then most of the crew had been allowed to go back to their regular schedules, but he knew for a fact that Tucker had been working straight through for the past twenty-four hours. T'Pol had been quick to point that little bit of information out to him, he thought, glancing over at the Vulcan at her science station. She had not taken a rest period either, which he had quickly reminded her, when she argued with him over the dangers of sleep depravation. Of course T'pol told him that Vulcans didn't need as much sleep as humans. 

Shifting forward in his chair, Archer spoke into the console. " Commander Tucker, Could you repeat that? I didn't quite get that last statement." Archer heard a snicker from Hoshi's direction, but chose to ignore it.

Tucker closed his eyes, mentally kicking himself as he listened to Archers response "_How did I answer that hail?"_ He thought, rubbing his hand over his unshaven face. _I must be getting tired! _Sighing, he touched the call button. " Yes Sir. Sorry Captain I was..."

Archer shook his head on the bridge, chuckling softly as he listened to Trip's apology. " It's quite all right, Commander." He cut him off. "We're all a little on edge right now." He said, glancing around the bridge before continuing. " I was just wondering how you were coming on the repairs to the transporters."

The mere mentioning of the transporter raised Trip's blood pressure about ten notches. Swallowing the lump of frustration in his throat, he turned and stared at the blackened mess of circuits inside the access panel. "I could not even begin to describe to you the mess I'm lookin at right now Capt'n. Every single relay leading to the targeting scanners was fried during that storm. I'm havin to replace every one of um' . Not to mention the sensor matrix and the.."

"I get the picture Trip." Archer's voice came back, cutting him short. " Just do the best you can. We've still got about ten hours before we reach orbit.. I'm confident you'll be able to figure it all out by then. Archer out!"

"Ten hours, well, that sure makes all the difference in the world!" Trip muttered, sarcasm in his voice, as he crawled back under the console.

On the bridge, Archer leaned back in his chair pushing the urge to go down and help Trip himself. _That would probably just make him think I didn't trust him to do the job_, he thought. Sighing he looked at the viewscreen. The planet they were heading for, looked a lot like earth, even at this distance. He had been very excited when sensors showed it to be inhabited as well. The anticipation had been building inside of him ever since then. The thought of making contact with yet another unknown race gave him a thrill every time. Over the past few months' they had met several races of being's and had gained valuable insight on dealing with unknowns. 

It was a slow process, but he felt they had come a long way since first leaving earth. 

"Lt. Reed to the bridge."

"Archer here." What's up Malcolm?" Archer replied, sitting up in his seat.

"I just thought you would be glad to know that the weapons array is fully operational again. We had a little trouble with the bloody EPS power flow regulators, but they're in tip-top shape now!" Reed came back, his British accent etched with excitement.

"Good job, Lieutenant." Archer told him, pausing as he thought about Trip. "Maybe you could go down to the transporter room and give Commander Tucker a little help. He's a little short handed right now!" Archer figured Malcolm would be more help to Trip than he could be, and he was used to working with the engineer under duress.

"Will do Captain! Reed out!" 

Settling back in his chair again, Archer smiled to himself. Maybe he should have warned Malcolm about Tucker's fowl mood!

Enterprise's Armory Officer found her Chief Engineer sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of an opened access panel. He was busy using a Padd to check data from a circuit board he'd pulled from the console.

"I take it that the weapon array's fixed." Tucker said in a soft voice, not bothering to look up from his work, as Reed entered the room.

"Yes. Reed replied, crouching down to peer at the damage inside the opened panel. "The Captain asked me to come down and give you a hand."

"That was very thoughtful of 'em." Tucker remarked bitterly, laying the Padd down and getting up on one knee to place the repaired circuit board back into it's slot. _Actually it really was_, he thought, feeling a little bad about the way he'd said it. _John was probably worried he was working to hard or something. Sometimes he felt like he was serving under his father!_

Reed noticed he was favoring his right hand as he worked and caught a glimpse of the oozing blisters that covered the inside palm and fingers. "What happened to your hand?"

Locking the board firmly in place, Tucker shook his head, briefly glancing at the hand with complete disregard. "Oh..It's nothin. I had a little disagreement with a circuit relay earlier that's all." He was already busy trying to remove the next ruined board from its socket.

"It doesn't look like nothing to me!" Reed replied, reaching out and grabbing hold of the injured hand. 

"Do you mind! I'm trying to get some work done here!" Trip protested, wincing in spite of himself from Reeds prodding. "I didn't know your credentials included a degree in medicine!"

Reed looked up at him a slight smirk on his face. "I don't need a degree to recognize second degree burns. You need to go to sickbay!" 

Pulling out of Reed's grip, Tucker glared at the younger man. "Yeah? And while I'm in sickbay, who's gonna fix these transporters? You?" Giving up on the fused circuit board for the moment he got to his feet and picked up a couple of tools from the pile on the floor.

Reed watched him as he moved over to the transporter platform and began to undo an access panel, shaking his head as he heard Trip swearing under his breath when he tore another blister open on something inside the panel. Sighing he turned to the still opened access panel under the console and went to work on the board that had given Trip a problem. He wondered if the Captain knew just how stubborn his chief engineer could be!

Ten hours later, Archer called his senior staff to the ready room to put together a landing party. All the damaged systems on board had been repaired, including the transporters. Tucker and Malcolm had finished with them several hours ago and he'd ordered both officers to get some sleep. Hopefully they had done just that, since he planned on both of them to accompany him down to the planet! As everyone filed into the small ready room, Archer looked at Tucker's bandaged right hand. Tucker saw the concerned look on his face as he came to stand beside him. Malcolm, T'pol, Hoshi, and Travis Mayweather made up the rest of the group.

"It looks worse than it is." He whispered, leaning over toward him slightly. 

Archer frowned, looking at the hand. "Maybe you should stay on the ship this round." He said, loud enough for every one to hear. 

Trip felt his face getting hot as everyone turned to stare at him. "It's not that big a deal, Capt'n, really! Dr. Phlox okayed me to go.." He paused, as Malcolm cleared his throat noisily. Reed had accompanied him to the sickbay after they got the transporters working and knew that the Dr. had advised him to take a little time off, not just for the sake of his hand but the fact that he needed the rest. Glancing at Malcolm, he gave him a warning glare. "Besides, what could go wrong, this is a pre-industrial society we're gonna be observing and the only weapons they seem to carry are farming tools, it's not like we're gonna have to do any hand to hand combat with um!"

"Farming tools are not weapons." T'pol remarked.

"I, know that! It was a figure of speech!" Trips exclaimed looking at the Vulcan in irritation.

"They could be used as a weapon though." Malcolm put in, the serious tone in his voice, amusing Archer. "I've seen old movies where a pitchfork did quite a job on a guy once.."

"Okay. Enough folks. You can discuss the definition of a weapon later. We need to get back to the business at hand." Archer said holding up a hand to get their attention. "Hoshi, what can you tell us about the language?" 

"From what the acoustic relays picked up, I've been able to program the translators with enough information to understand most of the general dialect. Some of the words don't translate the exact meaning, so we'll have to be careful how we say things. Other than that, as long as the translators don't break down, we should be fine."

"Okay." Archer nodded. Turning from her he addressed the rest of the group. "Sensors show only one area of the planet as inhabited. From that we can only assume that this is a young species of humanoids. The area where they live is surrounded on all sides by a continuous chain of mountains. Our shuttle will touch down near the base of the tallest mountain, here." He paused , pointing to the area he was referring on the topographical map T'pol had pulled up on the monitors. " Dr. Phlox will be doing a little work on our features so we'll look like the humanoids on the planet, but since they are a tight knit group , it will be hard to remain unnoticed so I want us to split up into pairs when we reach the village. You've all read the observation reports, so if there are no questions, I want to be ready to leave in two hours. Hoshi, T'pol, you'll be one pair, and Malcolm and I will go as the other." 

Tucker shuffled his feet nervously when he didn't hear his name mentioned. Archer tried to suppress a smile as he turned to the younger man. "Commander?"

"Sir?" 

"I'll need someone to stay with the shuttlepod..just in case we DO run into trouble. Think you can handle that?" 

"Yes, Sir." Tucker replied letting go the breath he'd been holding. 

"Good." Archer smiled, turning once again to the rest. "Travis you'll have the bridge while I'm gone."

"Yes, Sir!" Ensign Mayweather answered, grinning widely. He was one of the youngest crewmembers onboard, and his excitement and enthusiasm showed it.

"Lets work on making this a smooth operation folks. I'll see you all in the launch bay in two hours." Archer concluded, touching Trip on the arm as he started to leave with the others.

"Something wrong Capt'n?" Trip said when everyone had left the room.

Sighing, Archer leaned back against the console behind him. " Dr.Phlox called me before the meeting this morning Trip."

"Listen John, I can explain...I.." Tucker blurted out, gesturing with his injured hand.

Archer waved him off. "You, don't, need, to explain anything Trip." He replied, moving away from the console and walking toward the door. "Just try to avoid lying to me in the future..espcially in front of the rest of the crew."

"Capt'n.." Tucker called after him as he started through the hatch. "I'm..sorry.." He said, stopping when he saw the hurt look in Archers eyes, before the Captain turned and walked away. Sighing wearily, Tucker through up his hands in frustration, then brought them both down hard on the console in front of him, hanging his head. "Damn." He muttered softly under his breath.

Two hours and thirty-four minutes later, the shuttlepod entered the surface of the planet. It was unusually quiet onboard the small vessel and everyone seemed to be aware of the tension between the Captain and the chief engineer. Malcolm sat across from Archer in the pilots' section humming under his breath. He seemed to be the only one not affected by the charged emotions around him. Or maybe he just chose to ignore it. nonetheless, his cheeriness did manage to help Archer relax a little as he looked out the veiwport at the landscape below. The planet was nearly identical to that of earth, except for a thinner atmosphere . The sky was a pale blue and the vegetation was green below them. Up ahead of them the tall peaks of the mountains surrounding the village they were flying over were covered with snow. The shuttle bounced around suddenly, causing everyone to grab a hold of his or her seat.

"Sorry folks, just a little wind turbulence!" Malcolm said from beside him, making an adjustment on his console.

As they cleared the mountains Malcolm pointed out the window. "There she is." He said . Archer smiled as he looked out at the houses and plowed fields in the distance. A few moments later, the shuttle sat softly onto the ground with only the slightest of bumps. 

Filing out of the shuttle the landing party gathered around Archer. They had all been clothed with loose fitting garments made out of a leathery type of material. Their skin was a darker color as well giving them all the appearance of having lain out in the sun too long. But the most uncomfortable part of the disguise had to be the violet-colored contacts they all had to wear. Even T'pol had complained that they irritated her eyes. As a result Archer had told them that they didn't need to put them in until they were almost to the village. Tucker had been the luckiest one though. Since he wasn't going into town he didn't have to wear them at all. In fact, he had worn his own uniform as well. 

Everyone seemed to have their gear ready to go, Archer noted as they gathered around him, with the exception of Trip, who was staying behind. "It'll take us about forty-five minutes to walk into town. We'll keep in contact using the communicators, just make sure no one spots them. We're only here to observe, not make first contact, so stay as low-key as you possibly can. We'll meet back here at nightfall if all goes well. Any questions?" He finished, looking around. "No? Okay, lets get this show on the road!"

Archer turned to Trip while the rest of the group finished getting ready. He was leaning back against the side of the shuttle picking at the bandage on his hand. 

Taking a deep breath and letting it out, he spoke, his voice low enough to keep the conversation between them. "Trip?"

"Sir?" Tucker said, looking up at him with wide eyes. 

Bloodshot eyes, Archer noticed as he let out an exasperated breath. "About what happened this morning.."

"It's okay Capt'n...John.. You were right. I was wrong. It'll never happen again. I Promise." He stopped fidgeting with his hand and stood up straight as he spoke.

Archer shook his head, smiling. "You..promise?" 

"Scouts honor." Tucker said grinning mischievously as he raised his hand in a mock salute. 

Malcolm had joined them, and grinned widely at Tucker. "You know you're saluting with the wrong hand don't you?" 

Archer smacked him on the shoulder, chuckling. " Leave the man alone Reed, he's just an engineer you know!"

"That's okay, you too. Maybe ya'll'd like to walk back to the Enterprise!" Trip replied, stepping up into the shuttlepod. His face taking on a serious look he added as they turned to join the others. "Be careful."

"We'll be expecting supper when we get back!" Malcolm called back to him getting a laugh out of Hoshi. 

Tucker just shook his head at Reed, taking one last look around the area before disappearing back inside the shuttle.


	2. Chapter Two (The Keeper)

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Chapter Two

Archer and Malcolm walked down the middle of the dirt street gazing at the various shops and taverns that made up the center of the town. Archer had contacted the shuttle just moments ago, letting Trip know what they had discovered. After complaining that he was going stir crazy, Archer had suggested to the engineer that he catch up on some shut-eye. After all, the comm would wake him up if they called him, and everything was going smooth, so there was no reason for him to keep his eyes glued to the sensors. Tucker had reluctantly agreed to take him up on his suggestion, and had signed off. 

They had been in town for a couple of hours now and had crossed paths with Hoshi and T'pol only once. The two women had found the local library and were in seventh heaven when they left them. The two men had decided to check out some of the shops. The wooden planked walkways were filled with humanoids busily going about their daily lives. Surprisingly, the foursome had been able to blend in more easily than Archer had thought they would. Most of the populace paid no attention to them. Malcolm had suggested that maybe it was do to the fact that there were over three thousand 'people' in this town. 

"Think about it. Do you know everybody in your hometown?" He asked Archer as they stepped up onto the walkway and entered a small tavern.

"No, I guess not." Archer replied, cocking his head to one side. 

Inside the tavern, a rather large jovial character greeted them. "Welcome!" He said gesturing toward a table. "Please come. Sit."

Obliging the gentleman, Both men sat down at the round table nearest the door. A lantern sat in the middle, its fumes giving off a slight pungent odor as a flame burned within. Looking around at the long bar at the rear of the room, Archer whispered to Malcolm. "It looks like something out of an old western movie, don't you think?"

"Yeah. Strange isn't it?" Malcolm agreed glancing up as the man returned to their table with a Picher and two glasses. Pouring the amber looking liquid into the first glass, the man studied them with marked interest.

"I haven't seen you two gentlemen in here before. My name is Daeltiri. I am the owner of this fine establishment." He said, finishing with the second glass.

Malcolm looked at Archer. They had to be careful how much information they gave about the person they were supposed to be. He certainly didn't want to make a mistake, so he waited for the Captain to do the talking.

"This is our first time. We have been frequenting the tavern on the far side of town. Since we were up this way we thought we would drop by." Archer replied smiling at the man. "My name is Callian and this is my associate, Demitri." He added, gesturing at Malcolm who nodded a greeting at the man.

"I assume you have traveled from your side of town to attend the Restoration Ceremony."

"Yes. Of course." Archer answered the man giving a quizzical glance at Malcolm.

"Then may the blessings of the 'Keeper' fall upon you. Your refreshments are of no charge to you today. Enjoy." The man said, his face breaking into a huge grin.

Malcolm leaned over to Archer when the man had moved away. "What do you suppose he meant by Restoration Ceremony?" 

Shrugging his shoulders Archer whispered back. "I don't know. But, if we stick around awhile, I'm sure we'll find out."

Several hours later in the library where she and T'pol had been since talking to the Captain, Hoshi suddenly gasped aloud as she looked at a historical document in front of her. "Look at this!" She exclaimed Pointing at a drawing in one of the books.

T'pol looked away from the book she had been studying and gazed at the picture with a frown. So far most of the information they had gathered from their reading had been general stuff. Origin, cultural accomplishments of the people and some of their more famous peers. For one thing, the people were called, "Quellians". Their timeline read that they had come into existence around five thousand years ago. But one thing that struck her as curious was the Quellians absence of religion until about two hundred years ago. Now as she looked at the drawing Hoshi showed her things were falling into place very quickly. 

"We must show this to the Captain immeatiatly!" She told the younger women getting up from her seat.

"You don't think this is really what it appears to be do you?" Hoshi asked her eyes wide as she looked up at the Vulcan.

"I am not certain. But, if it is we need to proceed with caution." T'pol answered moving swiftly toward the exit.

Hoshi looked at the drawing one more time. On the page a round spacecraft was descending upon the town and below it a figure stood with his arms outstretched. But it was the face that bothered her the most. It was the face of a man...a human man. Under the illustration the caption read. "The great day of dissension; when the Keeper first appeared to the Fathers."

Charlie Tucker was dreaming. He was lying in a field under a big old oak tree, his head resting in the lap of a beautiful young woman. Spread out under them was a brightly colored quilt. The woman was running her fingers gently through his hair as he lay there with his eyes shut. A warm breeze flowed across his face, and he sighed contently. "Mmmm...Don't ya wish we could just stay here forever Natalie?" He murmured softly.

"I don't think that will be possible Charlie. You know those engines have to be in good working order or the Captain will have your butt...." The woman replied.

Jerking awake Trip grabbed hold of the arms of the pilot's seat where he'd dozed off. Sitting up he rubbed a hand across his face, chuckling slightly as he remembered his dream. "Can't even have any peace in my dreams!" He muttered softly, getting up and going over to a compartment against the bulkhead. Getting out a thermos of coffee, He poured himself a cup and went back up to the front. Sitting down heavily he checked the sensors. Satisfied everything was okay; he leaned back and took a drink of his coffee. Looking at the chronometer on the console he realized he'd actually slept for a couple of hours. Sighing deeply he got up and walked back through the shuttle and stepped out into the bright sunlight. Squinting his eyes, he looked toward the direction of the town, wishing he'd gone with the rest of the landing party. It had to be a little more exciting where they were, than it was here.

Stooping down he sat his coffee on the threshold of the shuttle door and unhooked the strap holding his tricorder. Activating the device he began to walk slowly toward a clump of trees at the base of the mountain that rose up behind the shuttle. Sensors showed very little life forms. Most of the life readings consisted of insects. He'd moved about fifteen meters from the shuttle when suddenly, a huge energy surge flashed across the screen, making him stop dead in his tracks. He looked up and around in surprise, and aprenhension. "What the hell?" He murmured looking back at the scanner. The sensors were back to normal now. Showing the same things they had moments ago. It was as if lightning had struck and in an instant was gone again. 

Heading back in the direction of the shuttle he pulled out his communicator and opened a channel to the enterprise. "Commander Tucker to Enterprise!"

"Enterprise here, what's up Commander?" Ensign Mayweathers voice answered.

"Did you just pick up a surge of energy on your sensors?" Tucker asked him, keeping one eye on his tricorder. 

"Yeah, as a matter a fact we did Sir. It was just for a split second and I figured it was just a glitch in the sensor array or something. " Mayweather came back. His answer only intensified the bad feeling that Tucker was getting as he picked up his pace. 

"Well unless my tricorder has a glitch in it too, something or someone just kicked on a huge power source!" Tucker remarked, as he cleared the trees and headed for the shuttle.

"But, there's nothing on the sensors now!" Mayweather came back.

"That's what botherin me!" Trip replied a grim look on his face. "I'm gonna contact the Capt'n and let him...."

His mouth dropping open in surprise, Tucker almost dropped the communicator. Climbing out of the shuttlecraft in front of him was a tall spindly alien with arms hanging down past its (Knees?). Huge glossy saucer-shaped eyes and a tiny slit of a mouth accented its large egg-shaped head. Tucker immeadiately thought of the old pictures he'd seen of extraterrestrials in books about UFO's back on earth. This thing fit the description perfectly! It's skin was a pale green and from what he could tell it wasn't wearing any clothes.

"Commander?" His communicator squawked, as Travis' concerned voice came through. "Trip? Are you there?"

Raising his communicator slowly to his lips, Tucker whispered into the commlink, his eyes still glued to the alien. "Travis? Are you picking up anything unusual on your sensors now?" 

"No. What's going on down there? Are you okay?" Travis answered.

"Are you sure you don't see anything on those sensors Ensign?" Tucker asked again, frowning. The creature still hadn't moved since stepping out of the shuttle.

"There's nothing Commander."

"Well..I'm here to tell ya that something is standing about four meters away from me and it don't look too friendly." Tucker informed him, taking a step back as the creature suddenly moved forward two steps. 

"You want us to transport you to the ship? I can have a lock on you in less than a minute" Travis told him.

Tucker was looking at the tricorder still in his hand. It didn't register the alien being at all. It was as if there was nothing there. _Must have some kind of dampening field around it_. He thought. _Or I'm hallucinating._

"Commander?"

Lowering the tricorder he started to answer Travis when out of the corner of his eye he saw the alien raise his left arm. Dropping the communicator he instinctively went for his phase pistol, looking at the alien as it moved to intercept him. 

"YOU ARE NOT OF THIS PLANET! I WILL TAKE YOU TO THE KEEPER NOW!" 

The force of the voice that suddenly ripped through his skull caused the engineer to stagger back. Dropping both the tricorder and his weapon, Tucker grabbed his head, as the pain inside became intolerable. Gasping in pure agony he cried out as he fell to his knees, his eyes watering as the world spun around him. He forced his head upward to look at the alien, confusion and fear on his face, then, unable to tolerate the pain any longer; he pitched forward, unconscious before his face hit the ground.

The alien stepped over him and picked up the communicator.

"Commander?! Come in! Trip?" Travis was yelling through the commlink. The alien cocked its head to one side as if it was listening to the speaker. Travis's voice could be heard in the background ordering someone to transport the Commander to the ship immeadiately. The alien throwed the communicator aside and hurriedly picked up the limp form of Trip Tucker. Then it disappeared, taking the Commander with it.

On the ship Travis looked over at the Ensign stationed at tactical. "Did you get him?"

The Ensign looked up a puzzled look on his face. "No Sir. He's..not there anymore!"

Getting up Travis walked forward to the helm control and punched a button. "What do you mean he's not there?" He said as he studied the sensors himself. 

"I mean. One minute I had a lock on him, and the next minute he disappeared form the targeting scanners."

Travis stared at the sensor readout in unbelief. It wasn't picking up Tuckers biosigns anywhere. It was as if he'd disappeared off the face of the planet.

Looking up at the view screen, he spoke his voice cracking slightly. "Open a channel to the Captain."

"Aye, Sir." The communications officer answered.

Swallowing hard, Travis wondered what he was going to say to the Captain. Commander Tucker had seen something or someone, before he disappeared. And the inhuman cry of pain he'd heard from the engineer had sent chills down his spine. Whatever had happened to Trip had been without warning or he was sure the Commander would have had time to fight back. Whether that meant he was dead, or just missing, Travis wasn't sure. But, one thing was for certain. The Captain and the rest of the landing party could be in grave danger! 


	3. Chapter Three

The Keeper

By: Dorothy (dotty) Lee

Chapter Three 

Archer and Malcolm finished their drink and left the tavern heading up toward the library. Archer wanted to see if T'pol and Hoshi had found out anything about a Restoration Ceremony and or anyone called the Keeper. 

"Hey, there's Hoshi and T'pol ." Malcolm announced pointing up the street. Looking, Archer could see them heading in their direction. 

"We were just on our way to see you guys." Malcolm said, smiling when they came within earshot.

"Captain we found a.." Hoshi started, her voice etched with excitement. T'pol cut her off with a slight touch of her hand on Hoshi's arm. 

"Perhaps we should discuss this in a more private setting." T'pol said her voice low and serious.

Cocking his head slightly Archer frowned as he and the others followed T'pol to an alleyway between two buildings. They moved down the passage far enough to be out of earshot of any passersby and gathered into a small circle.

"Okay, What's going on?" Archer said, looking at T'pol.

"I believe we may have discovered the evidence of a previous first contact." T'pol answered him, glancing up and down the alley as if she thought someone was going to jump out at them at any moment.

"What?" Malcolm exclaimed, before Archer had a chance. He glanced over at Hoshi who was shaking her head in excited confirmation. "Who? Where?"

Archer waited until Malcolm had gotten over his outburst. Then he spoke, his question directed at T'pol. "Where did you find this information?" He asked simply, his voice remaining calm, despite the fact that his heart was pounding with excitement as well over the shocking information he'd just been informed of.

"In the library." T'pol replied. "In one of the historical documents."

"Show me!" Archer said heading back up the passageway toward the main thoroughfare, before she could protest. At that moment his communicator beeped. Stopping, he held his hand in a silent command for the others to hold up. Digging the commlink out of his outfit, he opened a channel. " Captain Archer here."

"Captain!" Travis Mayweathers voice came back, sounding very distressed. "Something terrible has happened to Commander Tucker! We lost contact and.."

"Whoa! Slow down Ensign. Start at the beginning." Archer ordered, his heart racing, even as he attempted to keep his voice steady. _What had Travis said? Something terrible had happened to Trip? He_ could hear the Ensign sigh before he began to speak again.

"Okay." Travis began again, still sounding like he was out of breath. "I received a call from Commander Tucker about ten minutes ago. He asked me to check the ships sensors for anything unusual on the planet's surface. I told him that we'd picked up a burst of energy, but only for a second. Then, he said there was something there, with him at the landing site. From the sound of it I thought he was talking about some kind of animal or something. A few minutes later I heard the Commander cry out and his communicator went dead seconds later!"

"Did you beam him to the ship? Is he injured?" Archer asked, getting a little more agitated.

"We tried to beam him to the ship Sir..but all we managed to get was his communicator on the second try. As for Commander Tucker..there's no sign of him anywhere. He's gone."

Archer felt his heart skip a beat at Travis' last two words.

Malcolm, seeing the distress on Archers face leaned forward and spoke into the communicator.

"Ensign recheck the sensors. There has to be something on the scanner!"

They waited a moment. Then, Travis came back. "We did another sweep of the area Sir. There's nothing there but the shuttlepod."

"Okay Travis. Keep those sensors on that area. Let me know if anything so much as sneezes down there!" Archer said, getting his voice back. "We're heading back there right now!"

"Aye, aye Sir! Enterprise out!"

Putting his communicator away, Archer leaned back against the wall, exhaling deeply. _Have to get a grip on this_! He thought, aware that the others were watching him closely. _Trips a big boy. He can take care of himself..... If he's not lying somewhere injured or dying!_ The little voice inside of his head screamed. Taking a deep breath he let it out and stood up straight. "Let's go!" He said a somber look on his face as he headed out of the alley.

Tucker woke up with a start scrambling halfway to his feet before a wave of dizziness and nausea brought him back to his hands and knees. His head hanging between his arms Trip squeezed his eyes tightly together shaking his head in an attempt to clear the cobwebs. That was a mistake, he realized quickly as pain exploded inside his head nearly knocking him unconscious again as he collapsed to the floor. Holding his head, Tucker rolled over onto his back and lay there breathing hard. As the pounding in his head began to subside, Tucker opened his eyes slowly. From his perspective on the floor, he could make out a ceiling filled with stalactites. Slowly he rolled over on his side biting back another round of dizziness. Looking directly in front of him, he saw that he was in some type of cell. Feeling a little less dizzy, he raised up and slowly got to his feet again. The room spun a little causing him to stagger. Stumbling like a drunkard he made his way over to the nearest wall and grabbed hold of it for support.

Now that he was on his feet he could see the entire room that he was in. There were three walls, roughly cut out of the soft cave rock. A lavoratory and sink jutted out of one the walls, and a small cot. Across the front was a large opening surrounded by a metallic frame. Streaming across the front from frame to frame in an endless loop bright blue laser beams blocked his path to freedom. Walking a little more steadily now, he moved over in front of the force field. Biting his lower lip, he studied the beams for a minute.

" What the hell." He said matter-a-factly, shrugging his head slightly to one side as he made a decision and reached out with his unbandaged hand. 

As soon as his fingers made contact with the beams he was rewarded with a terrific jolt of energy that threw him back against the rear wall. Sliding down the wall grunting as his behind slammed into the unyielding rock floor, he gasped painfully, swearing under his breath.

"Well, that was a real intelligent thing to do, Mr. Tucker!" He muttered sarcastically to himself, checking his left hand for burns. "Maybe you could throw a little water on yourself first next time!"

"I would advise against it. There's enough energy in this force field to explode a man's heart and boil his blood!"

Tucker looked up in surprise at the sound of a human voice. Standing on the other side of the field was a tall muscular human male, probably in his late forties or so. He wore an outfit straight out of the history books on Ancient Rome. He wore a gold embroidered tunic over which hung an embroidered purple toga, which if Trip recalled signified Royalty. Emperors only wore such garments.

Getting to his feet, Trip brushed the dust off of his uniform as he stepped forward. "Who the hell, are you?" 

"All in due time Commander Tucker. All in due time." The man answered, gesturing toward the young female humanoid that had moved up to his side. 

Tucker looked at the girl. She was just like the people they'd saw on the viewscreen on Enterprise. Dark tanned skin covered her lithe fully matured body. She had on the sheerest of gowns colored in an iridescent blue. Her eyes were a deep violet. Draped over her head and down over her shoulders was more of the irriedesent material. Swallowing hard, Trip felt his face flush red as he stared entranced by her innocent beauty.

"Striking isn't she!" The man said, smiling as Tucker tore his gaze from the girl to stare at him in disgust. "Of course she's only fifteen years of age." He added grinning wickedly at the effect his information had on the chief engineer

Tucker shot a glance back at the young girl, a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He mentally rebuked himself for looking at her in the matter that he had the first time. Breathing hard he looked back at the man. "Okay. So, now I know you're a sick basted. That don't answer my first question though. What was that thing that attacked me? How did I get here?" 

Going over to the wall on the left side of the forcefield. The man pushed a button and the field disappeared. Turning back to Tucker, he gestured with his right hand. "Come join us for dinner and I will explain everything. And just in case you're thinking of jumping me. My tall green friend is watching us at this very moment. He won't hesitate to kill you if any harm comes to me."

Sighing, Tucker stared at the man and his companion as they headed down the narrow passage outside of his cell. _Well you wanted excitement Charlie old boy. Looks like you got your wish! _He thought following them. 

The passage came out into a large cavern. The entire area was lit with an artificial light source emanating from the ceiling. Looking around he was amazed by the lavous furnishings that filled the room. Large fountains were scattered throughout the cavern, water flowing serenely down into crystal clear pools. Giant brightly colored pillows stacked against each other were situated about the area, for people to sit on he supposed. At the center of the room stood a wide platform with a gold colored throne in its center. _This guy sure has delusions of grandeur! _He thought, glancing sideways at the man. 

To the right of the throne a long table stood already set for dinner. The man gestured to Trip to take a chair. He chose one at the far end of the table. The man went to the head of the table and sat down. The girl sat at his feet. From seemly out of nowhere the green skinned alien appeared again, standing beside the man. Tucker immeadiately shoved his chair back away from the table and stood up in a defensive posture.

"Don't be afraid Charles. The Grennii won't hurt you...unless I command it. Please sit back down." The man said, standing himself.

His heart pounding still, Trip slowly lowered himself back into his seat. His mind was racing at ninety miles a minute. What was that thing? How did this man know his name? What about the Captain and the others. Had they been captured as well? How the hell did this guy get from earth to a planet over one hundred light years away?

"I see you have many questions Charles. I will try to answer them all." The man said. Looking at the guy, he frowned. _I didn't say anything out loud, did I! _He thought. Then it hit him!

"You..You're a telepath!" Trip exclaimed, realization dawning on him. Now he understood how the guy seemed to know as much about him as he did. The basterd had been reading his mind all along. Another thought suddenly entered his mind causing him to get to his feet again, looking first at the Grennii, then at his Captor. 

The man laughed out loud gesturing with his hands at the look of desperation mixed with fear on Trip's face. "Don't go doing anything foolish now, Commander! I have no intention of using the information in your mind to take over the Enterprise! I'm perfectly content with my own little kingdom here! Sit down and enjoy your meal, I wouldn't want to have to let Naddon punish you for trying to escape! Besides, there are so many tunnels and passages throughout these caves, you would only succeed in getting yourself hopelessly lost."

Trip stayed his ground, his left hand gripping the back of the chair tightly. "Not til you tell me who you really are! There's no way you're human! Humans don't have the ability to read minds!" 

The man turned his hands over palms facing up as he shrugged. "As you wish." He said sitting down. "My name is David Richards, and yes, I am from Earth, despite your misgivings. About two hundred years, I was just a simple ranch owner in New Mexico outside a small town call Jol, located near the border of Texas. "

Trip swallowed hard, as he listened to Richards tell his tale. The strain on him, both physically and mentally from the events of the past thirty-six hours had began to take its toil on him. He found it hard to think straight. What would Jonathon do in his place? _He'd sit down and get all the information he could out of this guy that's what! He thought,_ sighing, as he moved back around and took his seat_._ Richards continued, nodding his approval.

"I kept to myself raising a small herd of cattle and spending my free time studying the stars. You see I was an amateur astronomer and had been fascinated by the night sky since I was just a little tyke growing up on my daddy's farm. I had always believed there was more out there in the heavens than just a bunch of stars and planets. But nothing had prepared me for the events about to unfold on my ranch that very night."

Richards paused to take a drink from his glass of wine gesturing for Tucker to join him. Reluctantly Trip picked up his own glass and took a sip. It tasted like real red wine, but had a more bitter taste to it.

"The date was November 16, 1951. I had just come in from the field and decided to continue my investigation of a cluster of stars in the Eastern Hemisphere. As I peered through my telescope I saw a glowing object move across the star field. Looking up from my scope I watched the object as it streaked toward me. At first I thought it was a meteor and became a little apprehensive. After all it was fairly large and heading straight for my ranch! I slowly walked out into the yard not able to take my eyes on the ball of fire that surely spelled my doom. But as the object flew over my house kicking up dust and sounding like a tornado in the middle of a thunderstorm, I realized that it was some kind of airplane..no..not and airplane, but a spacecraft!" Richards paused again biting into what looked like a turkey leg to Trip. Looking down at his own plate, Tucker resisted the urge to eat his own meal. His stomach was flip-flopping so much it probably wouldn't stay down anyways. Instead he took another drink of his wine, swallowing down most of the contents of the glass. The Grennii moved down to his end of the table and refilled the glass from a bottle sitting on a small cart to his left. Trip gave the green-skinned creature a nervous nod of thanks when it was finished. It returned to its place beside Richards as he went on with his story.

"The spacecraft crashed in the middle of my field taking out about half my heard in the process. After the dust storm it had kicked up cleared, I got in my pick-up and headed out to see the damage."

Trip couldn't believe what he was hearing. He remembered the accounts in the history books about the Roswell incident in 1947. But, he didn't recollect anything about a spacecraft crashing in New Mexico in "51. Leaning forward, to rest his elbows on the table he listened with growing interest,

"When I arrived at the crash site I found a creature laying about three yards away from the burning wreckage."

"Let me guess. Your green buddy here." Tucker cut in, glancing at the Grennii.

"Yes. It was Naddon. He had been thrown from his spacecraft and was still alive. Knowing that the military was already on their way to the site since they had most likely picked the spaceship up on their radar, I quickly dragged the unconscious alien back to my pick-up and loaded him into the back. By the time the military got there I had Naddon hid in my cellar. They questioned me about the crash of course, but I simply played dumb and told them that I figured it was a meteor. In the end they cleaned up the evidence of the crash site and left me alone with my new found friend. "

Richards paused to pass the girl at his feet a piece of bread. That ticked Tucker off really bad and resisting the urge to strangle his host, he picked up his plate of food instead and offered it to the girl. She looked up at Richards like a puppy dog begging for its bone. He nodded his head at her. She scrambled to her feet and grabbed the plate from Trip grinning like a kid on Christmas morning. Returning to her place on the floor she proceeded to eat its contents greedily. Richards nodded at Tucker smiling as if to say, see I'm not a monster after all. Tucker returned his look with a glare of disgust.

Sitting up even straighter in his seat, Richards sighed deeply and continued to talk.

"When Naddon first attempted to communicate with me, I suffered the same agonizing pain that you experienced earlier. But as time went on, he was able to use a sort of mind melding technique, which enabled me to converse with him pain free."

"Mind meld? You mean like what the Vulcan's.." Tucker started to ask. The instant he said the word Vulcan's the Grennii let out an ear-piercing scream that ripped through his mind as well as his ears. He grabbed his head as pain coursed through it like liquid fire.

Richards quickly said something to the Grennii in a language Trip didn't understand and the pain subsided almost as quickly as it had appeared. Breathing hard, Trip blinked his eyes to clear his blurred vision as he looked up at Richards. The Grennii had disappeared.

"I'm sorry I didn't warn you about mentioning the Vulcans in Naddon's presence. I'm afraid there is no love lost between the two species." Richards said, gesturing to him. "Drink your wine Commander it will help ease the pain." 

Tucker looked at the glass of red liquid but didn't pick it up. "So you're saying that the Vulcan's know about these guys?" _It was sure nice of them to leave out information about brain frying aliens in their reports on known species! _He thought sourly, deciding he needed that drink after all. 

"Oh, I'm afraid there's a great deal of information that your friends the Vulcans have kept from you." Richards told him as he downed the entire glass of wine. 

"Who said they were my friends?" Trip replied, relaxing somewhat as the wine took effect, a little quicker than it should have.

Smiling, a strange look in his eyes, Richards continued with the story. "Naddon's people came for him a month an a half later and I asked him to take me with him. His people agreed, grateful that I had not turned him over to our scientists for experimentation, or to the military. I went with them and stayed on their planet, which, by the way, is several thousand light-years from here, for several months. When I became ill with cancer soon after arriving there, they gave me a gift far greater than I could ever imagined having. Although I could not explain to you the specifics of what they did to me, I can tell you that it was a genetic restructuring of my DNA so that I was cured. And, it had another side effect. I will live one hundred times longer than any earthling could ever have dreamed of living. "

Tucker blinked, leaning forward slightly, as his vision blurred again. "So..how did..you get here..on thisss planet?" He said his speech slurring. He shook his head slightly feeling dizzy._ I knew I shouldn't drank that second glass_...he thought trying to focus on what Richards' was saying.

"The Grennii gave this planet to me as a token of my loyalty to them." Richards said getting up and moving down toward Tuckers end of the table. "And these people have worshipped me as their Keeper for almost two hundred years. I heal their sick and injured using Grennii technology, and they give me their first-born females to enjoy."

"You're a..sickk..man.." Tucker mumbled trying to stand. The room was spinning wildly now and his legs seemed to be turning to jelly.

"Don't worry Charles..soon you'll learn to appreciate me, since you'll be spending the rest of your life here. But, I'm afraid the drug I had Naddon put into your drink is about to take you into dreamland, so I will bid you farewell for now." 

A mixture of fear and betrayal in his eyes, Trip lunged at his tormentor but only managed to collapse in a heap on the floor. "You..son..of...a.." He gasped as the room faded out of existence, and he was thrown into unconsciousness once again.

Richards chuckled softly as he stared at his sleeping prisoner. "Oh, so you knew my mother, did you?"


	4. Chapter Four

****

The Keeper

By:Dorothy (Dotty) Lee

__ ****

Chapter Four

It had been two hours since they had first lost contact with Commander Charlie Tucker. Archer and the rest of the landing party had returned to Enterprise, and were now gathered in the ready room. . On the trip back to the ship, T'pol and Hoshi had filled him in on all of the information they had gathered from the library. So far, they knew that two hundred years ago a spacecraft apparently brought two visitors to the planet. 'The Keeper', and his companion, who the text referred to only as the Keepers guard, told the people, who were known as the Quellians, that they had been sent there to heal and protect them. The only thing the Keeper had asked for in return was the first born-daughter of one of the families every ten years. In between that time, there was a monthly ceremony known as 'The Restoration Ceremony'. During the ceremony anyone who had sick or injured family members could bring them to the 'Temple' and the Keeper' healed them as they passed through the 'Great Healing Arch.' The people would also bring offerings of food and clothing to the temple as gifts to the Keeper. The temple was located in the center of town surrounded by a wall of stone. And according to the books, the next Restoration ceremony was to be held the very next day.

He looked around at his senior staff as they prepared their reports and gathered any last minute information from their consoles, and felt a small ounce of comfort in knowing that they would do everything in their power to bring back their lost crewmember...dead or alive. It had taken every ounce of discipline in him to leave the planet without his chief engineer. Sensors still showed no sign of Trip. And the energy burst that they had picked up earlier had not made a repeat occurrence as of yet. Clearing his throat of the lump that had been there since they had left the planet, He addressed the group.

"Okay people! What have we got?"

Malcolm spoke up first, his eyes filled with frustration. "I've run diagnostic after diagnostic on the sensor array. There's nothing wrong with them. There has to be a dampening field enclosed in those mountains, either natural or artificial that's preventing us from picking up anything below ground. We could always blow a hole in the top of one of those peaks with the phaser cannons, but if anything or...." He paused for only a second. "..anyone, was in the immediate area of the blast, they would probably be killed."

"Couldn't we just cut an opening in the rock on the surface?" Hoshi asked, getting everyone's attention.

Malcolm shook his head at her. "I'd be afraid to try that sort of operation without a test trial. We've only had these babies up an running for a couple of weeks. If the energy output of the primary coils were off even a a tenth of a gigijule..." 

"We're not going to blow up or shoot anything until we know who or what is down there." Jonathon stated, drawing their attention back to him. "I'm going back down there in the morning to attend this..'Restoration Ceremony. ' I have a feeling all the answers to our questions will be answered there."

"Captain, I believe I may have one question answered for you already." T'pol said quietly, moving from her place to stand at the monitor controls on the wall behind Archer. Manipulating the controls, she brought up the illustration from the book. Archer looked at the picture then turned his eyes upon his science officer. His jaw set in growing anger.

"If you even hint at the word 'classified information' I'll throw you in the brig T'pol!" The very thought that Trip was missing because of withheld information on her part was enough to make his blood boil. 

"I assure you Captain. I have not kept any information from you purposely. This planet has not been visited by any of my people. I am the first Vulcan to observe it. However.."

Archer was beginning to hate 'howevers'.

"This ship is in our classified data." She said pointing to the screen. "It has all the markings of a 'Grennii' Spacecraft."

" What the bloody hell is a Granny?" Malcolm asked moving closer to get a better look at the ship.

T'pol glanced at him with disdain. "The name is Grennii not Granny, Lt. Reed. They are a race of telepathic beings from a planet approximately 1,342 light years from Earth. We first encountered them when they were discovered observing your planet. It seems they were the ones responsible for multiple UFO sightings in the mid- twentieth century and had in fact taken humans to their ship for experimentation purposes. We..persuaded them to leave your planet alone, and they have not been seen or heard from since."

"Until now." Archer said grimly, staring at the picture. 

"So how do we fight these Grennii? What is their weapon capability?" Malcolm asked. He was getting impatient with all this talking. He wanted to do something. After all..Trip was his friend too. And if these bloody devils had done something to him, he wanted to be the first to knock their telepathic brains out 

of their bloody heads!

"It is unlikely that there is more than the minimal firepower on the ship pictured in this drawing. It was designed mainly for transport according to our records. However, they are a very technically advanced race, and given the scope of the shielding in place on the planet below, there is no way of knowing what may be below the surface." T'pol answered.

"But if they're so advanced, why didn't they attack us when we entered orbit?" Travis blurted out, speaking up for the first time since the conversation had started.

"Maybe they didn't want to be discovered."

Archer had patiently listened as his officers discussed the situation. Now he looked at T'pol as she finished her statement. "I think T'pol is on the right track. It's obvious to me that whoever this Keeper is rather it is Grennii, or Human as the picture shows, has a good thing going. Maybe he was hoping we'd move on without discovering his little operation here. "

"So you think Trip might have saw something he wasn't supposed to see, and that's why they grabbed him?" Malcolm asked.

Archer looked at him sighing deeply. "That's what I'm going to find out."

"If you plan on going back to the surface Captain, I will accompany you." T'pol said as he moved toward the door. "The Grennii are not only telepathic. They also possess teleportation and telekinetic abilities. If you cannot take them by surprise they will be able to render you unconscious..or worse, with just a thought."

"What makes you think you would be unaffected by them?" Archer asked her, stopping at the door.

"I did not say I would not be affected. But, my Vulcan physiology gives me a slight advantage. Such an advantage could make the difference between success and failure."

"Alright. You're with me." Archer replied, looking back at the others. "Malcolm, you're in command. If they do have weapons capable of reaching us, you'll be responsible for keeping Enterprise out of harms way. The rest of you know what to do. " Looking back at T'pol he pushed a button on the control panel located on the wall activating the sliding doors. "Let's go get Trip." 

_Trip was dreaming again. He lay in the same field again, under the same tree. His head lay resting in Natalie's lap as she gently caressed his forehead. He sighed deeply enjoying the feel of her hands as they ruffled his hair. He could smell a sweet perfume on the breeze as she lowered her lips to his own. Responding to her gentle kiss, he reached out and took her face in his hands, pulling her closer..._

Suddenly he was awake, gasping as he pushed away the hands that grasped his shoulders, and scrambled out and away from his molester. "Wha...what'll you think you're doing?!" He exclaimed, staring in shock at the young Quellian girl that had been kissing him. She had been thrown back on her bottom when he pushed her away, and now she scrambled to her feet and ran to the nearest corner of the cell staring at him in utter terror. 

Still breathing hard he scooted back until he was sitting against the wall. Laying his head back he closed his eyes, trying to get his respiration under control. His head was pounding almost as hard as his heart and he groaned softly running a hand through his hair, damp with perspiration. _If this is a nightmare I wish to HELL I'd wake up! _He thought miserably. Letting his hand fall limply to his side, he opened his eyes and stared at the girl. She had sat down as well, her hands wrapped around her pulled up knees. He wasn't sure how she'd ended up in here with him. The last thing he remembered was that basterd Richards poisoning his drink. Looking up he stared at the force field, half-expecting Richards to be standing there watching them. He relaxed somewhat when he saw the empty corridor outside the cell. Looking back at the girl, who still cowered in the corner, he slowly got to his feet, ignoring the drug induced throbbing in his head, and walked over to her. Crouching down in front of her, he gave his best smile. "I'm sorry I scared you. You just startled me, that's all."

Looking at him her violet eyes wide with fear, the girl spoke, her voice soft and high pitched. "It is I who should ask forgiveness. I did not mean to offend you. The Keeper said I was to entertain you until he returned. You were so kind to me at dinner, I wanted to repay you for your generosity."

"You speak english!?" Trip replied, his words more of a statement than a question.

"Yes. the 'Keeper' taught me many things about his world. I can speak several languages from your planet. He also allowed me to look at the picture books he brought with him. He can be very kind at times." She replied, shifting around to lay her legs, still curled up close to her body, sideways on the floor.

_I bet he can! _Tucker thought sarcastically, catching himself looking at her well-formed body. Swallowing hard he stood up, moving back a little as she jumped up as well, facing him. 

"You are not mad at me then." She said moving toward him, her hands coming up to take hold of his waist, before he could stumble back, out of her reach. Taking a sharp intake of air, Tucker reached down and removed her hands from him. "Uh..no..I'm not mad..at you honey..you've just got to...not.." He stopped as she began to cry.

"You do not like me!" She sobbed, pulling away from his grip on her hands, and turning from him.

Throwing his hands up in frustration, Trip sighed wearily, laying his hand on her shoulder, and gently turning her around. "I do like you honey. That's why I won't take advantage of you. Not every human male is like Richards. What he's doing..the way he treats you.. is wrong.

She looked up at him, her eyes threatening to bring forth tears again. "He does..hurt me..sometimes."

"That's alright. Don't worry about it. He told her, feeling a surge of sympathy rush through him. "I won't let him hurt you anymore."Taking her in his arms he hugged her, as a father would hold his child. Then, he led her over to the cot hanging out from the rock wall and set her down. "Where did Richards go?" 

"To prepare the temple for the Restoration Ceremony." She answered, wiping her eyes with her shawl.

"Restoration ceremony?" 

"Yes." She answered, explaining to him what the ceremony involved. 

Tucker rubbed his chin, thinking. "When do you think he'll return?" He asked her. _Maybe this would be his only chance to escape_, he thought, listening to her reply.

"Not until the sun has risen high into the sky."

Turning away from her, he looked at the force field. _If I could just get through to that control panel.._he thought looking around for something to use as a tool. His eyes stopping on the sink on the far wall, he quickly moved across the room. Crouching down in front of it he examined the spigot that came up out of the metallic basin. Grabbing hold of it tightly, he began to twist the pipe back and forth. It gave just a bit. He changed his position, getting down on one knee, grunting with effort as he put all his weight into it. With a loud screech the spigot came loose, breaking away from the sink bed. Taking his newly acquired tool, Trip moved over to the wall housing the control panel on the outside. Looking around the edges of the wall he spotted a grapefruit sized rock. Picking it up he transferred the pipe to his left hand. Then, placing the pipe against the rock wall, at the height he remembered the control panel being at, he struck the pipe with the rock he held in his right hand making a loud clacking sound. Bits of rock chipped off, falling to the ground like rain. Nodding in satisfaction, he began to chip away the wall where it joined with the metal frame of the force field. 

The girl came over to stand beside him after a few minutes. "What are you doing?" She asked him. Stopping his work for a moment, he wiped his dust filled eyes with his sleeve, as he looked at her.

"The controls to this force field are inside this wall. If I can get to them, I might be able to shut it off or at least short it out."

"But the Keeper said there's enough power in there to kill you!" 

Trip chuckled, turning back to the wall. "This is what I do for a livin honey, I don't plan on killin myself. " He worked a few moments in silence, swearing under his breath when the rock he was using as a hammer broke in two. Looking around the room, he spotted another large rock lying in the left corner. " Uh, sweetheart..could you get that rock over there for me?" He asked the girl who had sat down at his feet to watch him. While waiting he continued to scrape at the rock, using his hands to break off some of the small jagged pieces that were sticking out. The sharp ends cut into his hands, causing the blistered flesh to bleed. Ignoring the pain, he wiped his hands on his uniform. The slate -like rock was very brittle, making it a lot easier to get through than he had thought it would be. He could already see a tiny hole in the center of the small crater he'd dug out, and smelled the familiar odor of ion energy from the plasma conduits inside the wall. 

"Here. I found two." The girl said, returning from her errand.

Taking the rocks from her, Tucker set one of them on the ground, and went back to his hammering. "Thank you. uh.." Pausing he looked over at her smiling. " I just realized..I don't even know your name."

"It is Risianna." 

Pausing once more from his work he smiled softly at her. "That's very pretty...but then, you're a very pretty, young lady." 

Risianna blushed deeply ducking her head shyly. "Thank you Charles." She said calling him by the name Richards had used. He suppressed a cringe.

"Call me Trip..all my friends do." He told her, resuming his work.

"Trip." She murmured softly to herself, settling back to the floor. Tucker suppressed a chuckle, grinning as he continued to hammer away. _If he made it out of here alive, he'd make sure that son of a bitch, Richards, never has a chance to take the innocence away from another child! _He thought as the grin faded from his face, replaced by grim determination.

__

__


	5. Chapter Five(Finale) Rated R

The Keeper

By: Dorothy(Dotty)Lee

(WARNING! This chapter contains graphic violence!)

RATED R (for violence)

****

Chapter Five

It was well into the night when Archer and T'pol transported into the village, near the temple. The streets were empty, as most of the populace was asleep. Moving quietly across the road they entered the enclosed yard of the temple. The building itself was made of stone. The design, a simple rectangle shape, with an arched roof, and a tall steeple. Archer furrowed his eyebrows as he looked up at the steeple._ Looks like something you'd see on a church back home, _he thought, following T'pol into the temple itself. Both officers took their weapons out as they moved into the inner sanctuary. The room was fairly large, measuring a good 48 meters across and 36 meters wide. A stage was centered at one end of the room. The room was lit only by torches placed along the walls on either side. There were no windows.

"I'm picking up unusual energy readings from that device on the stage." T'pol whispered, looking at her tricorder.

Archer squinted his eyes trying to get a better look at the item in question. "We didn't pick up anything outside. This building must have a dampening field around it." He replied, cautiously walking toward the front of the room. 

Moving up several steps to the podium, they stopped directly in front of what was obviously the Arch that they had read about in the Quellian history books. It stood at just about ten meters, and was four meters across. Walking slowly around the object, T'pol continued to scan the device. 

"How do you think it works?" Archer asked, reaching out to touch it.

"I would advise against touching it Captain! You don't know what kind of security system might be in place. You could be injured." T'pol told him, intercepting his hand with her own. Looking at her he sighed.

"I guess you're right. You know how us humans are, always putting our hands where they don't belong."

If he didn't know better, Archer could have sworn that T'pol had blushed slightly. _Or maybe that was an anger response_, he thought smiling slightly.

Nonetheless she chose not to respond to his remark. Instead she moved over to the wall behind the Arch. Following her Archer saw what had caught her interest. There appeared to be a door embedded in the stone. 

"I'm picking up what could be life signs on the other side of.." She started to say.

Suddenly the door slid open! They both jumped back phasers ready as two individuals emerged.

Archer opened his mouth in silent surprise and shock when he recognized one of them as being human.

The other humanoid looked like something out of a science-fiction story. Green-skinned, bulbulous eyes, and long skinny arms and legs. It looked harmless, actually.

The next few minutes were a blur to Jonathon as suddenly a high pitched scream ripped through his skull, causing him to grab his head. Through tear-filled eyes, Archer saw the human turn to the alien and says something. Then he jumped back inside the door and it closed, leaving only the green-skinned humanoid standing in front of them. 

Archer had gone to his knees by now, as his brain seemed to be on fire. Turning to look at T'pol, he saw her point her phaser at the alien, as she held her own head with one hand, and fire the weapon. Immediately the creature fell to the ground, and the pain in Archers skull began to subside. 

"What..happened!" He croaked at T'pol, trying to get to his feet. His legs failed him and he started to fall. T'pol grabbed him to keep him from hitting the ground. Taking her communicator from its pouch she spoke urgently.

"T'pol to Enterprise! Emergency beam-out now!"

"No!..Got..to find..Trip!.." Archer gasped even as the transporter grabbed him and the sanctuary faded to be replaced by the transporter room of the Enterprise. 

Dr. Phlox was already there and came forward to help Archer over to the edge of the platform. Sitting down heavily Archer hung his head holding it with both hands as the doctor scanned his biosigns.

Meanwhile, Malcolm, who'd also hurried to the transporter room, was examining the alien that had transported with them. "What the hell is this?" He exclaimed to T'pol, glancing over at the Vulcan as she knelt beside him.

"It is a Grenni." She replied, staring at the alien. 

_(On the planet)_

"Bingo!" Tucker exclaimed as he broke through the wall and revealed the inner workings of the force field. Glancing over at Risianna with a grin, he threw the rock aside and leaned forward for a closer look at the circuitry within. From what he could tell, this being a more advanced technology than he was familiar with, he would be able to shut the field down by reversing the flow in the flux capacitors, or what appeared to be capacitors._ Or at least he hoped it would work. _

"You might wanna step back out of the way, honey." He told Risianna. Waiting until she was clear of danger, he took the time to remove the nearly shredded bandage from his right hand so he could work better in the small space. Then, taking a deep breath and holding it, he reached in and gingerly touched the circuit board inside. Breathing a sigh of relief when he wasn't rewarded with a shock, he began to rearrange the wiring on the board, chewing on his lower lip in concentration.

(Back on Enterprise)

"I told you I'm fine!" Archer said to the doctor as he sat on a biobed in sickbay. T'pol had insisted that he go to sickbay to be checked thoroughly.

"Still I'd like to take a few more scans.." Dr Phlox started, picking up a medical scanner from a small tray beside him.

"I don't have time Doctor! Trip is still down there somewhere, and time is running out! Now that they know we're on to their hideout he could be in even more danger!" Archer replied pushing the scanning device away and getting down off of the bed. 

T'pol came in at that moment. 

"What did you find out from the Grennii?" He asked as he walked toward her.

"Nothing that will help us find Commander Tucker." She answered turning around as he continued toward the exit. Following she went on. " We must keep him sedated in order to prevent him from using his abilities to escape. But I did manage to find out how to use this device. She said, holding up a small oval shaped object."I believe it will open the door to the hidden passage."

Smacking her on the shoulder, much to her disdain, Archer grinned. "Good work T'pol!" 

Out in the corridor he went over to a comm control on the wall and punched a button. "Lt. Reed report to transporter room one!" 

"Don't you think it wise to limit the amount of personnel that goes to the surface with us? After all you experienced first hand what the Grennii are capable of." T'pol said to him as they headed for the lift.

"This time we won't give them the chance!" He answered, his jaw set with determination. "We'll shoot first and ask questions later!" They stepped into the lift and the doors closed behind them. 

_(Meanwhile below the surface of the planet)_

"Damn!" Tucker swore as he failed for the fourth time to get the field to go down. Stepping back for a minute, he sighed heavily, wiping the sweat that ran down his face with his shirtsleeve. _Think Tucker! Think! _He thought, angry with himself as he stared at the circuits inside. _This shouldn't be that complicated! _Biting on his tongue, he decided to try one more thing. With one swift movement from his hand he reached in and grabbed all the wiring and jerked!

Blue fire erupted from the wall as he was thrown back for the second time hitting the back wall. Risianna was at his side immediately as he collapsed to the ground. 

"Trip! Please! I do not want you to die!" She cried, kneeling beside him as he lay on his stomach face down.

Groaning loudly he rolled over onto his back staring up at her. "I've got..to quit..doing ..that!" He gasped, wheezing. Every bone in his body felt like it was broken. He figured he had a couple of broken ribs to show for his effort this time as well as one hell of a bruised back! Damned if he wasn't going to kill himself before this thing was over with! Raising his head he looked past her. "Well I'll be damned, it worked!" He managed to say, chuckling weakly.

Turning from him, Risianna looked at the entrance. The force field was gone.

"Help..me..up" Tucker gasped at her as he struggled to his feet. With her support, he moved out into the corridor. 

"Which..way?" He asked, pushing away from her and leaning against the wall, still wheezing heavily.

"We must go back through the main room." She told him pointing down the passageway. "From there I can show you the way to the outside."

His breathing nearly back to normal, although every breath hurt like fire, Tucker tried a tenative step forward. Deciding his legs would support him now, he motioned for her to follow him.

As they entered the great room, Risianna pointed to a passage in the far left side of the cavern. "There, That is where we must go."

"Lead the way, sister!" Trip told her, following on shaky legs.

Just before they reached the passage, Richards appeared, running out into the room. He stopped dead in his tracks as he saw them.

"Well, well." He said smiling. "It seems you were a little more resourceful than I gave you credit for." They both stopped and stared at him.

"I'm getting out of here Richards." Tucker replied, standing up as straight as his tortured body would allow. "And I'm taking Risianna with me!"

Richards laughed, looking at Risianna, who looked terrified. "So, you must have really pleased him well!" He said to her, wickedly.

"You're wrong Richards!" Tucker spat out angrily. "I'm not the scumbag that you are! This little kingdom of yours is about fall!"

Richards looked back at him, his wicked smile fading into a snarl. "I believe that was a threat. Maybe you would like to settle this man to man, Charles." He growled, moving over to the wall behind him. Two swords hung criss-crossed in a sheath. Taking both rapiers from their holders he turned slowly to face Tucker. "I am a man of honor Charles, rather you believe it or not. Therefore I will make you a deal. If you win..you can take the girl and leave.But if I win..."He chuckled. "Well, let's just say, may the best man win..shall we?"

Trip had taken a step back when Richards went for the swords. Now he looked at Risianna who was clinging to him like a lost child. "Go sit over there." He told her pointing at a pile of pillows not far from them.

"No! He is very well versed in the way of the sword! You mustn't fight him! Just stay here, it will be better than to die!" She pleaded, holding onto him.

"That's where you have it wrong Risianna. I'd rather be dead than be his slave." Tucker told her pulling from her grip and moving over to Richards.

Throwing him the sword, Richards raised his own weapon, holding it slightly forward. "On 'Guard!" He said touching Trip's blade lightly as the Engineer tried to mimic Richard's stance. Then Richards lunged forward his blade swinging down and across to slice into Tuckers uniform across his upper right shoulder blade. 

Gasping in pain as the sharp point cut into his flesh, soaking his sleeve with bright red blood, Trip stumbled back, and parried to the left, striking Richard's sword as he lunged again, and again. Tucker counter attacked, the rapier feeling a little more comfortable in his hand as they moved back into the center of the room. 

Richards lunged forward causing Tucker to jump back, falling backward over a pile of pillows. Scrambling to his feet, his breath coming in short painful gasps, Tucker lunged back, this time making contact with Richards's right arm.

"Touche'!" Richards yelled, grinning evilly as he counter-attacked, Stabbing Trip in the right upper chest, the blade sinking deep enough to pierce the lung within. Crying out Tucker nearly blacked out from the pain. His battered body stretched to it's endurance, he stumbled sideways to avoid yet another lunge. 

"Give it up Charles. I promise I will spare your life. I might even let **you **please me." Richards taunted him, smiling lustfully. 

"Over ..my..dead..body!" Tucker gasped, revulsion mixed with anger giving him the adrenaline rush he needed so desperately. Charging at Richards, he countered a lunge and swung his blade across with all his might. 

Richards cried out as the blade caught him in his side slicing deep into the soft tissue cutting deep into his internal organs. Staring wide-eyed at his executioner, Richards dropped his sword and fell to his knees, as blood bubbled from his mouth.

"Touche'....." He gurgled, and then he fell forward and lay still.

Trip stumbled back, dropping his own sword. Blinking he stared at Richards body. Then he looked up at Risianna as she came to him.

"You have killed the Keeper!" She said staring at the still form on the floor dark blood forming a huge puddle beneath it. "How is that possible?"

Tucker blinked at her, as his vision blurred. "He..was just..a man..like me....." He nearly whispered, as his legs gave way and he collapsed to the floor. "Get..help.." He told her, wincing as he coughed, frothy blood trickling out the side of his mouth.

She suddenly looked up as something caught her eye behind him. She tried to smile, her features furrowed with concern as she looked back at him.

"I think help has arrived!" She told him, easing his head to a pillow she had grabbed from the pile behind him.

The last thing Tucker heard before he slipped into blissful unconsciousness was the Captain's voice calling his name.

**Epilogue**

_Captain's log Supplemental: _

"After beaming back to the planet T'pol Lt. Malcolm and myself entered the underground passage leading to David Richard's Lair. We found Richard's dead and my Chief Engineer, Charles Tucker injured critically, as well as a young Quellian female. After transporting Commander Tucker to the Enterprise, we returned the young girl to her people. We have removed all of the advanced technology from the temple and the underground lair and are on our way to meet with a Vulcan ship. They have promised to take care of the Grennii and to smooth the transition of the Quellians back to normal life. " 

Archer paused his recording device as the comm beeped. Touching the control at his desk, where he sat in his private quarters, he spoke into the panel.

"Archer here."

"Captain." 

Jonathon sat up straight when he heard Dr. Phlox's voice. He'd been waiting with worried impatience for word about Trip. When they had found Trip he'd been as close to death as Archer had ever seen him. The Dr. had worked on him for several hours before letting them know he would live. Since then, he'd been waiting for Trip to wake up so he could talk to him. He still felt guilty about leaving him down there on that planet for so long at the mercy of that insane man, Richards! 

"I just wanted to let you know that Commander Tucker has regained consciousness and is asking for you."

"I'm on my way!" Archer nearly yelled as he jumped up and headed out the door, without waiting for a reply.

Trip slowly became aware of noise, then lights, as he regained consciousness. Opening his eyes, he looked up at the smiling face of Dr. Phlox.

"Doc..?" He whispered hoarsely, his throat dry and raw.

"Good morning Trip!" Phlox replied, glancing up at Tuckers vital signs on the monitor above his bed. "You sure gave us all quite a scare! I would advise against further sword fighting until you've learned the proper way to fence." He added, smiling back down at him.

Tucker managed a half smile. "I'll remember..that..Doc."

Dr. Phlox picked up a glass of water from the small stand beside the bed and gave Trip a drink, holding his head as he gulped the cool liquid.

"Easy! Not too much, you'll be sick." Phlox told him taking the glass and laying it aside.

" Are you in pain?" 

Trip thought for a moment, taking a mental scan of his body's condition. Actually he felt pretty good, surprisingly. After what he'd been through he was lucky to be alive.

" I guess I feel okay." He said, trying to sit up. That's when he found out how wrong he was as pain shot through his chest and arms. Collapsing back onto the bed he gasped.

"You might as well get used to taking it easy for awhile Commander. You're not going to be going back on duty for a week or so. It'll take that long for your body to completely heal." Dr.Phlox told him, smiling sympathetically. Reaching over he picked up a hypospray from the table, and injected the contents into Trips neck.

"What was that!" Tucker gasped, still wincing from his earlier movement.

"Just something for the pain." Phlox replied starting to move away. "It'll help you sleep."

"Wait a minute..I want to talk to the Capt'n." Tucker told him trying unsuccessfully to raise up again.

Phlox came back to his side pushing him back down gently. "If you promise to lie still, I'll get him for you."

"I promise." Trip told him softly. _I don't think I could move again_, he thought painfully, his efforts having drained all his strength.

Archer came into sickbay minutes later. Dr. Phlox intercepted him as he headed for Trip's bed.

"I've just given him a narcotic for the pain. He'll probably pass out on you in a few minutes. Don't be long He needs all the rest he can get." He told Jonathon glancing back at Trip's bed.

Archer nodded in understanding continuing on to the alcove. He put on his best smile as he approached the bedside. Trip tried to raise up again when he saw Jonathon. 

"At ease Commander." Archer told him, chuckling softly.

"Capt'n." Tucker replied, in greeting.

"Dr. Phlox says you'll be up and at it in no time." Archer said gesturing toward the Doctor who had moved into his office area.

"Is Risianna alright?" Trip asked him, blinking. His eyelids were getting heavier.

"She's fine Trip. We took her back to her family. She told me to tell you that she was ever in your debt for saving her." Jonathon replied, ducking his head slightly. "I'm a little proud of you myself. You really held up under very extreme circumstances. I've already submitted a request for a commendation for service above and beyond the call of duty."

"You didn't have ta do that Capt'n.." Trip replied his face flushing slightly. "Although, I would like to ask a favor of ya.." 

Archer nodded his head. "Anything, Trip!"

"Next time I insist..on going on a mission, throw me in the brig..will ya.." Trip told him, clearly fighting to stay awake now as the narcotic began to take effect. He blinked his eyes sleepily as Archer laughed.

"You've got it, Commander!" He replied, reaching down to touch his friend on the shoulder gently. "Go to sleep Trip. I'll be back to visit you later. Malcolm and T'pol will probably be by as well as..." He stopped talking as he realized the younger man had already fallen asleep, his chest rising up and down steadily. 

Sighing deeply he removed his hand from Trip's shoulder. "Pleasant dreams Trip." He whispered affectionately. Turning he left sickbay and headed back to his quarters. 

Now that all his people were safely onboard, he would be able to sleep as well. 

The End :)


End file.
